Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-04-01
Elorida FaisehoOds.


the Florida Times Union from this
city:
Los ANGELES, Cal, Feb. 81, 1887.
To the Editor OF the Times Union:
Seeing the enclosed article in the
Evening Bulletin, of San Francisco,
ON California and Florida, and differ
ing SO materially with him in his
views as to Florida and California as
winter resorts, should like to give
YOU my views after an experience OF
the last two months in Southern Cali
fornia. AS compared with Florida, it
is not winter resort in any sense Of
the word.
The excursion rates are very low
from the East this season, and people
are here sightseeing and not winter
ing. A large share of them do not
stay ten days here. Think fully one
half have already gone north. San
francisco, Salt Lake, Colorado, etc.,
are Just as much on the programme
rs Southern California.
l have wintered in Florida two
winters. was there when she got
the cold black eye. l am fully salts
fed that that extreme cold was an
exception. Here they had a killing
frost in November, and they fear
April as much as any month in the
year for frost. From % to 80 per
cent of their oranges are frozen.
And the oranges here have no flavor
or odor. You can go into an orange
packing house blindfolded, and you
cannot tell whether they are packing
oranges or apples from the odor.
think there has been frost at
least thirty days out Of the sixty 1
have been here. Yesterday and to-
day are the first days the thermome-
ter has been above sixty in the warm
est part OF the day; usually it ranges
from thirty to fifty. When it does
not rain (which is the most of the
time) the dust is terrible. l enclose
you a printed slip describing the
mud.
do not think the people will take
q journey of from six to ten days each
way to winter here where snow is in
sight OF you all winter, when you can
reach Florida IN from forty to forty
eight hours.
1t rained here this month ten days
out of twelve, washed out six bridges
here; no cars or mails for three days.
l have met SO many people that have
wintered in Florida that express
themselves so much in favor of Flori-
da. In fact have not met one that
prefers it here. l heard of one that
did; but he was a doctor, and said
he could do much better here. And
think he can, as it is very sickly all
through here this winter. They have
typhoid fever, scarlet fever epidemic
in some places), diphtheria, measles
and smallpox. The Board of Health
says twelve cases they know Of. You
can figure for yourself how many
there is they do not know of.
This great advertised country is
only strip about fifteen miles wide
by one hundred miles long, and this
concentration of tourists in this strip
has turned the heads of some of
them. AS to the hotels, their charges
are just as high as in Florida, and
they are not near as good. l have
sampled them and know whereof l
speak. The New Everett, of Jack
sonvile, is as large as any three OF
their largest here put together.
1t is barely possible that some one
may believe these wild statements,
but the average American citizen
knows the utter falsity OF the asser-
tions therein contained. As to the
frosts in November they cut very
small figure in the State. The tenn
perature for November, according to
the records OF the United States Sig
nal Service, is as follows: Highest
temperature, 81 degrees; lowest temper
uture, AL degrees; mean temperature
for Norember, 1886, 500 degrees.
This does not indicate much frost,
and as for April frost it is once only
in decade that frost is seen in this
IN that month, and then only
in the low lands, where it does no
of harm. As to the destruc-
lion of 25 to 30 per cent OF the orange
crop by freezing in the early winter
The statement is wildly untrue. In
he whole citrus land of Southern
.lifornia, three hundred miles long
by thirty miles wide, there was a
,ingle streak of frost through por-
ion of Riverside that injured small
rsction of their fruit; but Riverside
8 but a trifling decimal fraction of
Southern California, and the few in
ured there were on strip half a
m lie wide and seven miles long, at
The ou' side estimate. This area is 80
mail as not to be taken into account.
The whole area in which there was
rost 10 injure oranges was about
Ehree and half square miles out of
!, ,750,0O) acres, where there was no
|r0st to injure the fruit at all. The |
that there had been frost |
thirty days out OF sixty is met by the
records of the United States Signal
previously given for Novem-
Der above, while the following is the
for December: Mean
cmperatisre for month, 55.7 degreee;
highest temperature, s4.S degrees for
NO days; lowest, S7.3 degrees. As